High surface area cathode assembly, system including the assembly, and method of using same
AssigneeFreeport-Mcmoran Corporation
InventorsScot P. Sandoval, Casey J. Clayton, Jason M. Morgan, Charles L. Bryce, Brett Waterman
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Abstract
A cathode assembly, a system including the cathode assembly, and method of using the assembly and system are disclosed. The cathode assembly includes high surface area material to allow efficient recovery of metal at reduced current densities at the cathode, which allows increased rates of metal recovery to be obtained, while maintaining desired properties of the electrowon metal.
Claims29
A high surface area cathode assembly for electrowinning metal from solution, the cathode assembly comprising:
- a hanger bar;
- a high surface area material in contact with the hanger bar, the high surface area material having a surface area to volume ratio of about 0.05 ft2/in3 to about 10 ft2/in3;
- and
- a container about at least a portion of the high surface area material.
A system for electrolytic recovery of metal, the system comprising:
- an anode assembly;
- a high surface area cathode assembly comprising a hanger bar, a high surface area material, the high surface area material having a surface area to volume ratio of about 0.05 ft2/in3 to about 10 ft2/in3, and a container about at least a portion of the high surface area material;
- and
- an electrolyte solution between the anode assembly and the cathode assembly;
- and
- a tank containing the electrolyte solution.
A method of recovering metal from an electrolyte solution, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing an electrolyte solution;
- electrowinning metal from the electrolyte solution using a high surface area cathode assembly having high surface area material with a surface area to volume ratio of about 0.05 ft2/in3 to about 10 ft2/in3;
- and
- harvesting the metal in the form of metal powder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.